In the evermore competitive manufacturing environment, methods to reduce manufacturing costs, while producing a quality product, are always desirable. One of the more basic manufactured products is a bracket to attach one member to another as, for example, a bracket to attach a tubular antenna along an antenna rod.
In constructing an antenna for propagation of signals in frequency ranges including, for example, 450 Megahertz and 800 Megahertz, it is common to provide a thin hollow antenna rod with larger diameter tubular antennae distributed along the length of the rod in a precise orientation to maximize signal propagation. Presently, such antennae are commonly constructed of a brass end which slides over the rod and is soldered thereto and a tubular antenna which is soldered to the end so as to be concentric with the rod. The end is a relatively expensive piece to manufacture, being machined from a section of rod. Also, the soldering to ensure proper electrical contact is tedious and difficult.
Other designs have swaged the end of a tubular antenna to a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the antenna rod. The swaged end is then soldered directly to the antenna rod. However, the swaging provides a variation in cross section, which creates undesirable impedances in the antenna.
A need exists for an improved tubular antenna mounting bracket, which overcome the shortcomings present in the state of the art.